Manuel Pellegrini: Manchester City can't be complacent against Norwich

Premier League leaders Manchester City must guard against complacency against opponents Norwich City despite beating them 7-0 on their last visit to the Etihad Stadium, manager Manuel Pellegrini said on Friday (30 October). That was two years ago, when the East Anglian side were relegated, before winning back their Premier League place last season.

"We cannot think about two seasons ago with Norwich, it's different, another team, other names, another moment," Pellegrini told a media conference in Manchester ahead of the game on 31 November.

Norwich have dropped to 16th in the table after losing their last three games, including a 6-2 defeat away to Newcastle United, but Pellegrini said he did not want to consider his team selection based on their vital Champions League match away to Sevilla on Tuesday (3 November) where a win could put them into knockout stages of the competition.

"Well I think that that would be a great mistake. We are not thinking about Sevilla, we are thinking just about Norwich, we need to win these three points here at home, we cannot, if we want to continue to lead the table, we mustn't drop points here at home. After that, when we finish, we will see on Tuesday which are the better players to start against Sevilla, but we are not thinking about Tuesday," Pellegrini said.

City now lead Arsenal only on goal difference after dropping two points with a goalless draw in the Manchester derby against United. Spain international David Silva, still suffering from an ankle injury, will not play on 31 October and Argentina full-back Pablo Zabaleta will not be back until after the next international break.